Things That Fit Over the Frame

One of the unfortunate truths about the Taylor Spatial Frame is that clothing and frames really don't get along too well. Shirts—fine. Hats and gloves and scarves and things of that nature (in short, Minnesota necessities)—fine. Socks and shoes—fine.

Pants (and underwear and shorts and anything which has to fit over the leg)—less fine.

So. The point of this post will be to address my general solutions to the problem of getting things to fit over the frame. Unfortunately, none of the situations are really flawless. Also, none of them do anything to deal with the fact that a Taylor Spatial Frame is an impressively bulky object with a tendency to get in the way of everything. Today during lunch it was cheerfully bumping up against my mother, who was less than happy, considering that it's a rather solid metal object. Unfortunately, I really don't have much frame-related sensation and couldn't tell what it was up to…

Which is entirely beside the point, of course, but still worth noting.

Now, how I've* been dealing with the problem of getting clothing to cooperate with the frame…

Underwear

Solution 1: Don't wear.
Why it works: Nothing goes over the frame, so you neatly sidestep the problem.
The problems: See: above.

Solution 2: Large boxers made from knit fabric with stretchy waistband.
Where to find: These can be found at more or less any big department store, from what I know (which is very little); mine came from Target. While the above description makes it sound like you won't be able to find suitable underwear from a brand name, fear not.
Why it works: With enough stretchiness, the things should fit easily over the frame. However, the underwear require some coaxing over the frame, which isn't a big deal. From personal experience, as a note of comfort for those who don't particularly like looking at the frame, coaxing underwear/pants over a frame while steadfastly not staring is entirely possible.
The problems: The underwear are kind of loose. If that's to your taste, great. If not, less great.

Solution 3: Underwear with one side Velcro'ed
Where to find: The Internet (or make them yourself). I don't think you'd need to do much searching…
Why it works: First off, if you don't like boxers, these ought to feel relatively normal. The Velcro aspect of the underwear also means there is no coaxing over the frame involved.
The problems: The Velcro has a tendency to dig and be generally aggravating. Proceed with caution.

Shorts

Solution 1: Even though the calendar has turned to spring, it is currently winter in Minnesota. Shorts are not a concern of mine. Yet. That said, having a stretchy waistband is a must, as is loose fabric (or a zipper up the side…)

Pants

Solution 1: Loose sweatpants. Women's sizes work better than men's (I believe they grow wider before growing taller, while that rule doesn't necessarily hold as true with men's sizes?)
Where to find: Department stores.
Why it works: As with solution no. 2 for the underwear, some coaxing will be involved but so long as it goes over the frame…
The problems: If the waistband isn't in particularly good repair, be wary of a tendency to fall off (pants and such with a frame on will necessarily be wider around the waist than normal life pants and such). Also, while there might be lots more fabric, it will still probably stretch over the frame. And the frame will probably then poke holes into the sweatpants. And then they'll be ruined.

Solution 2: Pants with lots of zippers (I think cargo pants work…).
Where to find: We went to REI and found a few pairs (women's sizes, again—the men's sizes were just too long/too wide in the waist).
Why it works: Zippers are wonderful things. Also, wearing sweatpants for months and months does get a bit monotonous, no matter how much fun it might sound like at first. Getting in something vaguely normal…terrific. Really, really terrific.
The problems: First off, with anything that doesn't happen to be sweatpants, be warned: the entire frame might not be covered. Also, it's much, much, much, much harder to find articles of clothing of a doable size for things that aren't sweatpants. In finding a pair of cargo pants, we went through many more, most of which didn't even come close to fitting. Clothing with the frame can be a struggle.

Solution 3: Custom-fitted pants.
Where to find: They'll need to be custom-fitted…
Why it works: See: "custom-fitted"
The problems: Custom fitting is, as it turns out, very convoluted. My mother's working on a pair of khakis and the amount of dedication involved to make the khakis somewhat compatible with the frame is impressive…a pair of zippers, seams ripped wide open, bits of bonus fabric sewn in. This is by far the most labor-intensive of the solutions detailed here.

I've heard that snap-on pants—like warmup pants for basketball—work well, too, but my parents haven't found any up here in Minnesota (or on the Internet). I'm also mostly happy in sweatpants, so there's that, too.

I know these really are far from perfect, especially given my complete and utter lack of knowledge in all matters clothing-related (and my inherent male bias), but while bearing a frame a full return to normal is rather difficult. Hopefully this entry is helpful to future people with frames. I know it would have helped me a couple months ago.

*When I say "I," this is a collective sort of term that includes my parents, who came up with most of the ideas detailed here